Big Lead Sports Bar

12/05/2009

THIS ONE HURTS

They got 228 yards of offense from Dion Lewis, who touched the ball an amazing 52 times. At one point, they had a 21-point lead. But in the end, the Pitt Panthers' BCS hopes were killed by a missed extra point. I'll have additional thoughts later, but for now, please grieve below.

As a life long Pitt fan, I cannot remember a loss that hurt as much as this one. I think the game really came down to special teams - two great Cincy kickoff returns and a botched hold on an extra point. The officiating didn't help either.

Cincy will get killed in the bowl game and Kelly will go to ND. Their fans should enjoy it while it lasts.

No, there really wasn't bad calls "both ways." Pitt got absolutely jobbed. I won't blame the refs for the loss (special teams did them in) but most of those calls were atrocious. A late hit personal foul while the Cincy receiver was 3 YARDS IN BOUNDS??? Are you serious?

The Big East got what they wanted, Cincy in a BCS game. Kudos to them, hope their fans enjoy it while it lasts.

In the Pantheon of Pittsburgh Sports losses this ranks up there with game 7 of the '92 NLCS, Pens'92-93 game 7 loss to the Islanders, Super Bowl XXX, '94, '97, '01, and '04 AFC Championships and last years loss to Nova in basketball. Up 21 at one point and then losing the game on a botched PAT....This one stings for PITT fans.

Sorry Pitt fans. No matter what you say, I don't care if you guys were getting "killed" by the calls, you were leading 31-10. Yes, there were some horrible calls, namely the facemask call, but you can't use the refs as a scapegoat. There were no flags on the botched hold and the kick-return for a TD. Face it, you guys blew the season in the last two weeks, against us, now against the Bearcats. I'm sure the loss hurts, believe me, I know. This is a 60-minute game. I couldn't believe my eyes when Lewis didn't take the knee. I knew Pike would of either driven down the field, or threw a pick the way his day was going. Unfortunately for you guys, it was the former. Well, anyway, for something we both can agree on, Go Steelers!

Yeah, I can't believe they didn't sit on the ball tied at 38 with 1:30 to go and the chance to get a first down inside the 5. Then again, they couldn't convert an extra point, so there's no guarantee they were making a 20 yard field goal to win the game. At least it would have still been tied had they missed the FG. Much like when Larry Fitzgerald blew through the Steeler secondary to make it 23-20 in SB 43, I said "there's too much time left on the clock, that was a mistake". Pitt did everything they could offensively to win the game. The Cincinnati offense could only be held in check for so long. In the end, Pitt just didn't have an answer for them. This was a tough one...it was right up there with the biggest aforementioned disappointments I've experienced as a Pittsburgh sports fan. Luckily Dion Lewis is going to be toting the rock for 2 more years in blue and gold. If Pitt can find a warm body to successfully take a snap from center and hand him the ball without fumbling they should be in good shape.